Putin hopes to claim Mariupol as key prop in Victory Day celebrations

Kremlin officials are said to be overseeing the clearance of debris and bodies from the streets of Mariupol in advance of the Victory Day holiday, even as fighting continues in the Azovstal steelworks. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

As Victory Day, 9 May, approaches in Russia, Vladimir Putin has yet to win any prize in two months of war in Ukraine that can be shown off to the Russian people.

But one could be close: the industrial port city of Mariupol, on the shores of the Azov Sea. Severely damaged in the Russian onslaught, it may now serve as a key prop in the festivities of the coming weeks. Kremlin officials and propagandists have flocked to the town before the holiday, as local cleaning crews are clearing rubble and patriotic statues to Russia are being erected.